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Social Studies Department Program Review
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Recommendation #5
● Review and revise K-12 social studies course pathway options:

○ Civics and Economics competencies integrated into appropriate grade spans K-12.
○ K-8: Intentional, consistent integration of social studies with other content areas (English language

arts [reading/writing & common rubrics], math [economics], science [technology], etc.
○ Modify the middle school social studies pathway to include compacted/extended beginning in

grade 8 and eliminating Pre-AP.
○ Pilot an integrated social studies/ELA course in a block schedule to determine benefits.
○ Review and modify time allocated to various social studies topics (e.g., US History, World History,

Ancient World History, Modern World History).
● Add and remove courses in the social studies section of the high school program of studies and/or modify

course content to include/consider:
○ World vs. European History
○ Infuse topics into existing courses such as, but not restricted to, Latin American History, Women’s
Studies, and LGBTQ+ studies into appropriate courses.
○ Consider new elective courses in diverse areas of study including “rolling”, semester-based,
every other year courses, such as regional studies based on student interest.

FINDINGS:

Internal Analysis
1. Students are ready for a Pre-AP Experience in grade 7 (PRSD Parent Voice, 2019).
2. Currently all 7th grade students and some 10th grade students have World History. If a 10th grader elects
to take AP European History, they will not have a World History class in high school. (PRSD Course
Request Data, 2019).
3. Opportunities exist to provide students with exposure to world history and cultures. European history and
American history are taught, but other parts of world history are lacking (PRSD Student & Parent Focus
Groups, 2019).
4. Asian Studies enrolls students for one section per year; this is the lowest Social Studies elective course
request (PRSD Data Course Requests, 2018).
5. Students who jump from an academic level course directly to an AP course without any exposure to the
Honors level will tend to struggle in both the AP course and on the AP exam (PRSD AP Scores, 2018).
6. Compacted/Extended title currently exists in both math and science at the 8th-grade level. (PRSD Math and
Science Reviews, 2017, 2018).
7. Social Studies themes taught in K-6: K- Community/Holidays; 1- Community/Citizenship; 2- Map
skills/Economics/Native Americans/Pittsburgh; 3- Community/Citizenship/Pennsylvania; 4- Regions of
US/ US Geography; 5- Ancient American Civilizations through American Revolution; 6- Ancient
Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome) (PRSD Vertical Team, 2018).

External Analysis
1. “We contend that social studies should provide all students an opportunity to see themselves in the
curriculum and avoid the process of erasure that can occur with LGBTQ figures,” (Maguth, 2014).
2. “This inclusion will begin the process of making visible millions of people, past and present, who have
informed and contributed to our national discourse, and it will provide a deeper reading of the complexities,
challenges, and opportunities associated with being a citizen of a multicultural democracy” (Maguth, 2014).

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